Statistics

The data presented on OScA represents a snapshot into outreach in the Scottish archaeology sector. Although several strategies exist within the sector which encourage greater participation and access to archaeology, there are currently no methods to track the implementation and effects of such strategies across the sector as a whole.

Data was collected through key term search of Discovery and Excavation Scotland (DES) publications, published annually by Archaeology Scotland. DES is a repository of all archaeological works carried out in Scotland, and compiles work conducted through commercial archaeology, universities, societies, community groups and independent archaeologists. For these reasons, DES provides a good starting point for gathering data on archaeological activities which involve forms of outreach. However, it is acknowledged that the information presented here is not exhaustive of all practices occurring in Scotland since 2000. The gaps in the data highlights weaknesses in the recording and reporting of such activities, with certain activities and settings of community involvement under-represented. This is especially evident for the developer-led sector, where data on community engagement and public benefit is not readily reported, and so this setting is largely absent within this database. Therefore, OScA promotes the need for future sector-wide discussions on how community engagement activities are recorded and where this information is held.

The following metrics have been discerned from this dataset, and a synopsis presented here; a full analysis will be published in due course.

Encouragingly, we can see a rise in activities from 2000 until 2020. There is an initial growth in the number of activities from 2005-2006, which marks the start of a steady upwards trend until 2012. Several peaks of activities can be traced back to initiatives and projects, such as Scotland’s Rural Past, Dig It!, and celebrations for the 2017 Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology. These upwards trends can also be linked to strategies such as Historic Scotland’s Our Place in Time (2014-2024) and Our Past, Our Future (2024 – present), and Scotland’s Archaeology Strategy (2015- present). These peaks of activities demonstrate the tangible impact of strategies and initiatives, which is imperative for future discussions of project development, funding and strategy development.

Covid19 and the pandemic restrictions caused a severe drop in project numbers occurring in 2020-2021. At this point, we see many outreach activities move online rather than in person, which causes a dramatic shift in the data. This shift online created new opportunities for participation in archaeology, many of which we still see implemented regularly today. Digital engagement has the potential to create wider audiences, and breaks down some barriers to in-person participation.  These in-person activities showed a gentle increase in 2022, but have not returned to pre-pandemic numbers.

The data collection categorised the organiser, the funder and professional involvement:

• ‘Organiser’ is those responsible for the organisation and facilitation of activities, categorised as public sector, private sector, third sector, community-led and society-led (figure 1).
• ‘Funder’ is the individual or group that provides the financial backing required to make the project viable, categorised as public sector, private sector, third sector, community-led and society-led (figure 2).
• ‘Professional involvement’ considers whether professional archaeologists were involved, or if activities were entirely community run.

This analysis is significant for depicting the state of Scottish community archaeology and develops a greater understanding of who is responsible for the organisation and facilitation of projects.

The spread of activities across the different organisers and funders largely reflects the aims of each sector. The data here demonstrates that the largest number of activities are organised by societies, which are frequently self-funded. Overall, this characterises the community engagement as largely driven by societies, who are frequently self-funded and consist of skilled individuals acting upon interest.

The third sector organises and funds a large number of activities, typically longer-term projects which consist of skills training. Furthermore, activities are frequently supported through public sector funding, with Historic Environment Scotland and the National Heritage Lottery Fund supporting the most activities.

The delivery of activities varies considerably across Scotland and has been mapped according to Local Authority area (LAA). The two LAA with the highest number of activities are Argyll and Bute and Highlands. Each of these areas are supported by active archaeological societies, local museums and initiatives, despite being among the regions with the lowest population densities. This demonstrates a keen and engaged audience within areas of high activities. In contrast, the LAAs with the lowest number of activities coincide with those of high deprivation according to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. This relationship requires further analysis.

Overall, OScA presents a first step in characterising the delivery of community archaeology across Scotland and creates a current understanding of activities which has not previously existed. In doing so, it is possible to move past anecdotal information and begin to build a robust dataset which builds a base line of activities.

Significantly, OScA has highlighted the discrepancies in recording, reporting and evaluating activities which involve the public across the archaeology sector, and prompts the question of where this information should be held. The archaeology sector must address these inconsistencies and lack of standardisation in order to adequately demonstrate the sector’s growth in widening participation in archaeology and delivering public benefit.

A full analysis of the data will be presented in an article, which will be linked here.